Kao announced on October 1, 2025 that it was starting a used-diaper carbonization trial with Kamikatsu Town in Tokushima, Japan. The town’s Zero Waste Center WHY was the site for the second version of the treatment equipment.
According to Kao, maximum capacity increased from about 30 kg to 50 kg per batch compared with its earlier machine. The trial processes diapers brought in by residents and examines whether people, including older residents, can use the system routinely. Kao describes using the resulting semi-carbonized material as fuel in place of fossil fuels.
This is a pilot for local treatment and fuel use, rather than a diaper-to-diaper material-recycling launch. Reduced emissions are an objective in the announcement, not an independently established life-cycle comparison. Kao’s later English release, dated October 23, describes the same project.